amoral


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amoral

neither moral nor immoral; unaware of or indifferent to questions of right or wrong: Sometimes lawbreakers are simply amoral.
Not to be confused with:
immoral – violating moral principles; bad; wicked: Stealing is an immoral act.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

a·mor·al

 (ā-môr′əl, ā-mŏr′-)
adj.
1. Not admitting of moral distinctions or judgments; neither moral nor immoral.
2. Lacking moral sensibility; not caring about right and wrong.

a·mor′al·ism n.
a′mo·ral′i·ty (ā′mô-răl′ĭ-tē, -mə-) n.
a·mor′al·ly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

amoral

(eɪˈmɒrəl)
adj
1. having no moral quality; nonmoral
2. without moral standards or principles
amorality n
aˈmorally adv
Usage: Amoral is often wrongly used where immoral is meant. Immoral is properly used to talk about the breaking of moral rules, amoral about people who have no moral code or about places or situations where moral considerations do not apply
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

a•mor•al

(eɪˈmɔr əl, æˈmɔr-, eɪˈmɒr-, æˈmɒr-)

adj.
1. without moral quality; neither moral nor immoral.
2. lacking or indifferent to moral standards, criteria, or principles.
[1880–85]
a•mo•ral•i•ty (ˌeɪ məˈræl ɪ ti, ˌæm ə-) n.
a•mor′al•ly, adv.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

amoral

adjective unethical, nonmoral, unvirtuous The film was violent and amoral.
Usage: Amoral is sometimes confused with immoral. The a- at the beginning of the word means `without' or `lacking', so the word is properly used of people who have no moral code, or about places or situations where moral considerations do not apply: the film was violent and amoral. In contrast immoral should be used to talk about the breaking of moral rules, as in: drug dealing is the most immoral and evil of all human activities.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations
amoralan

amoral

[eɪˈmɒrəl] ADJamoral
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

amoral

[ˌeɪˈmɒrəl] adj [person, character] → amoral(e); [action, attitude] → amoral(e)
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

amoral

adjamoralisch
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

amoral

[eɪˈmɒrəl] adjamorale
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in periodicals archive ?
There is no more amoral, self-serving or rapacious beast in sport" Commentator Richard Littlejohn on a spectator's on-the-field attack on an Aston Villa player "Lady Gaga's bicycle saddle seems to come quite high up on the reincarnation request list" Musician Rick Wakeman
Bowles, however, makes two additional assumptions about what this means: First, self-interest is synonymous with "amoral selfishness" (2), which rather than being morally neutral (as "amoral" might imply) is instead morally dubious (as "selfishness" does imply).
The enemy is the amoral Centre Political commentator Quentin Letts
The enemy is the amoral Centre" - Political commentator Quentin Letts.
A disturbingly amoral character, Batford makes for an interesting lead in this actionpacked debut from former Metropolitan Police officer Ian Patrick.
Hours before the polls close Tuesday in the Hoosier State, Cruz promised to tell reporters at a stop in Evansville "what I really think of Donald Trump" - before unloading on the billionaire as a "pathological liar," "utterly amoral" and a "serial philanderer."
Adrenalin-laced and with a strong sense of the absurd, this small-town Canadian novel explores situations both dark and amoral.
He also faces a struggle to keep his secrets out of the hands of both the government and an amoral rival, and discovers the armour he developed to fight evil is slowly killing him.
Still, the concept of hovering, amoral surveillance machines with missiles attached to them is pretty much the way everyone describes a much different reality: 1.
The six connected novellas, which span from the 1980s to a postapocalyptic future and play with styles and genres, ostensibly focus on different protagonists: Holly Sykes, a 15-year-old runaway girl; an amoral Cambridge undergraduate; a war journalist; a novelist; and two tribes of immoral beings.
But at the heart of the play is Sir John Falstaff (Antony Sher) a rollicking, ale-guzzling conman, inconsistent to a degree and with a sense of amoral fraudulence that can trick the Cheapside madam, Mistress Quickly (the marvellous Paola Dionisotti) out of house and home and Justice Shallow out of a thousand marks - a huge sum by today's values.
SCHOOLS are turning out "amoral" children because they are failing to teach them right from wrong, according to a leading headmaster.